Energy Transfer Partners

In the end, Williams decided that the takeover/merger proposal from Energy Transfer Equities (ETE) wasn’t so indecent after all. In June, ETE’s billionaire CEO Kelsy Warren revealed he had been propositioning Williams for over six months–offering Williams $64 per share to buy the company, totaling $48 billion (see Energy Transfer Makes “Indecent Proposal” to Buy Williams for $48B). Sometimes life imitates art. Like the movie Indecent Proposal, Williams (Demi Moore’s character) played hard to get but in the end announced, yesterday, they would accept ETE/Warren’s (Robert Redford’s character) offer. The price, however, has changed. The final deal will now be $37.7 billion total, or $43.50 per share. It’s easy to Monday morning armchair quarterback, but obviously Williams should have taken the earlier offer. The question now is, what will investors (Woody Harrelson’s character) think in the morning?…
Read More “Williams Accepts ETE’s “Indecent Proposal” – Price Went Down $10B”

An update on the potentially hostile takeover of Williams Companies by Energy Transfer Equity (see Energy Transfer Makes “Indecent Proposal” to Buy Williams for $48B). Williams is trying to get Energy Transfer CEO Kelcy Warren to sign a “standstill” clause before giving Warren access to Williams’ books. Such a clause would restrict Warren from buying shares of stock in Williams, lobbying investors and nominating his own candidates to the Williams board of directors–at least until a deal is cut. Warren is, so far, resisting and keeping up the pressure that he will move in a hostile manner to take over the company if they don’t cut a deal with him asap. This just in: Williams is now actively shopping itself and has “reached out” to more than 15 potential buyers, two of which have signed the standstill agreement and are, right now, poring over Williams’ books…
Read More “Williams Continues to Resist ET Offer, Talks with Other Suitors”

On Monday, MDN brought you what has to be the biggest midstream news in the Marcellus/Utica for 2015: a proposed hostile takeover of Williams by Energy Transfer Equity (see Energy Transfer Makes “Indecent Proposal” to Buy Williams for $48B). We’re a bit dubious about the benefits of a proposed takeover/merger because the market loses competition with such mega mergers. But Wall Street loves these kinds of deals. We see jobs lost due to consolidation and price increases due to less competition. Wall Street sees fatter profits from “economies of scale” and other euphemisms they use for lost jobs and less competition. We spotted a Reuters article that evaluates the proposed ETE deal from the perspective of what it means (for ETE) in the Marcellus/Utica. The story says the primary motivator on the part of ETE in pursuing a takeover/merger with Williams is that it would give ETE a “dominant position” in the Marcellus/Utica…
Read More “Q: Why is ETE Making a Play to Buy Williams? A: Marcellus/Utica”

Sunday evening MDN spotted what has to be THE biggest midstream story of 2015: Somebody wants to buy out and take over Williams Companies. The biggest midstream story of 2014 was the buyout of Access Midstream (the former Chesapeake Midstream) by Williams, creating a company that is nearly the size and certainly a worthy rival of the country’s biggest pipeline company Kinder Morgan (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). Williams said at the time the “total transaction value” (or TTV) would create a combined company worth nearly $50 billion (see Deal Details for Williams/Access Midstream Merger – TTV of $50B!). Sunday evening Williams said, in a pair of prepared press releases, that somebody (they wouldn’t name who) has made an “unsolicited proposal” (almost sounding like an indecent proposal) to buy Williams for $64 per share, or a total deal worth $48 billion. Williams has rebuffed the offering, hiring some high-powered bankers to help them out of this mess. The guy and company making the offer, it has since been revealed, is none other than Kelcy Warren, CEO of both Energy Transfer Partners and Energy Transfer Equity, the main shareholder of ETP. ETP is very active in the Marcellus/Utica. We have as much as we can gather on Warren, background on ETP/ETE, his indecent proposal to Williams, and what Williams–one of if not THE largest midstream companies in the northeast–is doing in response to Warren’s proposal…
Read More “Energy Transfer Makes “Indecent Proposal” to Buy Williams for $48B”

Energy Transfer Equity is offering their side of the story in the proposed merger/takeover of Williams. MDN’s lead story today is about that merger. On Sunday, Williams issued a pair of press releases refusing to name who the suitor is, but essentially said that somebody (ETE) is making an offer to buy them (see Energy Transfer Makes “Indecent Proposal” to Buy Williams for $48B). As you know, there’s always two sides to a story. ETE, the main investor in Energy Transfer Partners, is offering their side of the story. ETE’s version is much more lengthy than Williams and includes the claim that the ETE proposal offers a 32.4% premium to Williams stockholders “with a high degree of transaction certainty”…
Read More “ETE Says Shareholders Big Winners in Potential Williams Merger”